Esther Vergeer from the Netherlands stamped her dominance in the wheelchair tennis women's singles at the Beijing Paralympics, beating compatriot Korie Homan in the final on Sunday for her third straight title in the event.
Having triumphed at both Athens and Sydney, Vergeer was given a hard time by the second seed and Paralympic newcomer before taking the hard-won 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) victory.
In the gritty match that lasted two hours, Homan made Vergeer work for her gold, taking her right down to the wire.
"When we had the tie-break I knew it was going to be over in a few minutes, either my way or her way," Vergeer said of the final. "From the second set on, I felt nervous and scared almost. Fear is probably one of your biggest opponents."
"It was a very very hard game. Homan is a very good player and she kept the pressure on me the whole time. She played really well. Sometimes I was a bit too scared and I didn't attack well enough. It was just amazing that I won the gold medal."
"What I've learnt is that you can get yourself into a pretty difficult situation if you don't hit the ball, so that's probably what I'm going to do next time, try to hit the ball at least harder," she added.
Homan, however, had the mixed feeling after the close match.
"I am very happy to win the silver medal. At the same time, I am a little bit sad because I was one point away from the gold. It was an amazing match, an amazing final. Unfortunately there is only one gold, and I am the loser today."
"It is my first Paralympics, also my first time being in the Paralympic final. Everything is new, the whole atmosphere, so many crowds, it was a big difference compared to what I have experienced before. Esther is much more experienced than I am and she has some advantages in this," Homan said.
Earlier on Sunday, the quad singles division also saw the defending champion repeat history as Britain's Athens champion Peter Norfolk beat Swede Johan Andersson 6-2, 6-2 in the final for his second straight gold medal.
(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2008)
